desert, I plan to get out to some showrooms this week to see what's there and I'm really hoping that will help move me forward a lot more. When we built this house, we hooked up a trailer and drove to Dalton GA and came back with all the flooring needed to do the entire house. It was easier to make choices when we were looking at the entire roll and not just small samples. We got terrific deals and then just paid the labor to have everything installed by a friend of DH. For the majority of other items we spent hours at Lowes. lanval, I plan to give the island a new top along with whatever we choose for the countertops and I know that will help spruce it up more. Originally we were told there was no room for an island at all, but our cabinet guy designed the funky shape to fit one in. I wish we had space to redesign it to allow more of a rectangle shape with an overhang to fit a couple of stools, but there is just not enough space around the u-design of my current layout. Anne, DH is assigned the reno to his brother. He doesn't have time to get involved in the work itself. That's probably a good thing since we end up disagreeing on details most of the time. I've learned we just see things from different perspectives because I'm considering details he thinks are not important. And since the kitchen is not really his domain, I don't want to get into a power struggle over the choices I make. I tried to discuss the timing with him yesterday and he sees no problem moving ahead with the April schedule. I pointed out the events coming up that will coincide with the time the kitchen is torn apart, and his basic outlook/comment is "it's no big deal"...he's just a 'get'r done' kinda guy. I tried to remind him this is not one of his empty houses that is unoccupied and the fact there is more involved than just slapping on a countertop and being done. Maybe I'm just thinking too hard, but I can see the entire kitchen torn apart and me being stressed enough over that while trying to juggle our spring busy season and my DD's precious time left living at home knowing the activities associated with that. Plus the responsibilities of finishing up our eoy business details is difficult enough alone, and now I'm sposed to be doing research/legwork to plan a kitchen reno. I'm sorry if I'm rambling, but when I say 'overwhelmed' I'm not exaggerating. If I could just put everything else in my life on hold right now, it might be no problem, but everything else is not going to just stop. I'm glad you see what I'm feeling about the timing of my DD last days at home. Just last year when she wanted to have her after-prom party here, I had some mini meltdowns feeling overwhelmed with my regular daily workload and then adding more to it. This year isn't looking much better... Anyway, to clarify some of the questions you asked: I broke the measurements into 2 sections since the bar seems to separate it into 2 areas. The nook area is 13'x9'8". The kitchen area is 9'5"x13'2" but that is only the actual floor space. The cabinets are 25" deep so you could add that to the width of 9.5 for a size of the actual room. The garage is on the other end of the house. There is door to the backyard patio in the nook area. The original plan called for columns and a more open floorplan. DH chose to change it to large c.o. I posted pics from different angles to try to show this. I measured everything you asked to help clarify; fridge is 35"Dx35"W - cab depth is 25" - MW cab is 29"D - raised bar is 12"D. I checked the face frame of cabs and it appears the only ones sharing is the section to the right of the sink where the raised bar is. The rest are chopped up due to the DW, stove, and corner that leads to the MW cab. I'm trying to visualize the changes you suggested...I guess I need to sketch it out to understand it completely. Since his brother is doing the reno, it actually gives me more comfort b/c I know is fully capable of any little details I bring up. At this point...right now...I'm in panic mode after talking with DH last night and he totally doesn't get my lack of enthusiasm about the schedule. He makes it sound so easy. The ct can be done in one day, the floor can be done in one day... what's the problem??? Arrggh!! happy, Glad to hear of your wp sucess, painted and stripped. I hung every bit of the paper in this house and have 3 baths of wp also facing stripping.

We purchased a 1989 Cape that had been untouched since building. The layout and number of closets are fantastic! The adundance of draperies, mismatched floors, and the kitchen were AWFUL. Draperies were easy to lose, floors are slowly getting done, and the kitchen - well, it will take years to save for a full reno, but a coat of paint is a miracle worker! 1) Do you have any regrets Absolutely not! It made the space so much brighter and cleaner. 2) What did you paint - crown molding, kitchen cabinets, baseboards, door frames, doors only? Base cabs, upper cabs, beadboad on the back of the peninsula, beadboard wainscoting around the room, door frames, and a closet door. 3) What color or kind of paint did you use? Benjamin Moore Advance in White Heron. I discovered I adore the Advance paint. It self-levels, filling in pores and grain lines. It's not as workable as oil, but it's very different than acrylic wall paint! 4) What would you have done differently I thought I'd save some time and mess by NOT sanding the frames between coats. I did sand the doors. You CAN see a difference, but only when you open a door. The sanded door fronts are very smooth - the grain nearly disappeared. 5) Where did you start? i.e. finish a specific room and then move on, baseboards, crown molding, doors The kitchen was the focus, but now, we have some "spare" cabinets that were relocated to the laundry room. I plan to paint them aqua. I can't wait to buy more Advance! 6) What made the biggest impact Color. The original kitchen is fairly large - about 13x20, with half as the working kitchen and half as a seating area. The original counter is a rich blue-green Corian - and there's a lot of it! The original floors are unsealed whitish tile with white grout. The golden cabinets became white and I painted the room to match the counters (for now). From green and orange and beige and dirty gray floors, to crisp green and white - such a transformation. 7) How long did you devote to the project About 3 weeks, working 4-5 hours over 3-5 days a week. I had to clean everything with TSP, then sand everything (someone re-poly'ed the cabs to shiny them up for sale - ugh!). Two coats primer, two coats paint, touchups, sanding between each coat. Not to mention, I also painted the interiors of the uppers, as I still plan to buy glass front doors for those. 8) Any other comments you think are relevant I refinish furniture as a hobby - I love to see wood grain and bring an old piece back to it's original beauty. But I've become a white kitchen convert. It's SO EASY to keep it clean! The cure time is a full month, but 2 years have passed, and it still looks perfect.

Well, I know it has been a while, but I realized I forgot to post an update! We finished everything in Dec '11, and have really enjoyed it. The house went on the market this weekend, so we got a little over a year in our 'new' kitchen. We got a full price offer today, and our home is priced higher than anything in our neighborhood (the house 2 doors down in 500 sf larger, and priced $5k cheaper). I think it was worth it - total cost was right around $7K. Granite: NVG light Gel Stain: Java (General) - 3 coats Tile: Home Depot Backsplash: Home Depot Here is a link that might be useful: More Kitchen Remodel Pics This post was edited by leightx on Tue, Apr 23, 13 at 12:40

can you DIY? if you want updated, then that 90's oak should go,,,or be painted. But I mentioned the DIY part because if you could get those MDF baseboards, (if you buy them wholesale and cut out the middleman, the cost is .36 a foot!) and install them after you do your flooring. putting new flooring down against the old ones will mean a quarter round piece installed to hide the cuts against the baseboards. I personally hate the look and if it can be avoided, it looks so much better. Plus, you will have to thoroughly clean and scuff-sand those existing ones, prime and paint. to me, it's more work. Check w/your flooring guys. depending on what and where you buy your new flooring, they will also include baseboard installation for you for a few extra hundred. then you can paint those yourself. totally worth it. just make sure to get the taller baseboards. you'll also have to do the door molding, but it's not a huge deal. you can have them do that as well for a bit extra. Don't know what else you need,,,